Governor’s office announces Georgia broke export record for 3rd year in a row

ATLANTA — For the third year in a row, Georgia officials said the state had passed its export record, as far as billions of dollars in total trade across the globe.

According to the Governor’s Office, Georgia surpassed $49.7 billion in exports in 2023, giving it the rank of seventh in the United States for dollar value of its trade and facilitating more than $186 billion to 222 countries and territories.

Across the U.S., Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said the state ranked 12th for the dollar value of its exports in 2023.

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“For the third year in a row, Georgia has broken every record when it comes to exports, bringing billions of dollars to communities all across the state,” Kemp said in a statement. “With an estimated 87% of those exports coming from small businesses, these numbers are further evidence of just how Georgia means opportunity for all. International trade touches every county in the state, supporting jobs in logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, and more. You can truly make anything here and reach markets all over the world.”

The official announcement from Kemp’s office said the top exports from Georgia in the past year included civilian aircraft products, motor vehicles, turbojets, turbines, poultry and chemical woodpulp products. The top export destinations for products from Georgia were Canada, Mexico, China, Germany and Singapore.

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More broadly, Georgia’s top bilateral trading partners, or countries that Georgia has an import and export trading relationship with, were Mexico, South Korea, Canada, China and Germany, according to state officials.

The governor’s office said that in markets that Georgia has full-time trade representation, the state accounted for 67% of exports and 71% of bilateral trade in 2023.

“For decades, our international representatives in overseas markets have helped find the right homes for Georgia products and Georgia-made goods. By leveraging their unique understanding of the markets where they’re located, they play a significant role in both the lives of our small businesses and in moving the needle to increase our state’s overall exports,” Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson said in a statement. “These representatives work with our Georgia-based export specialists to ensure that Georgia businesses have an advantage and our economy remains strong. Thanks to support from the General Assembly and local leadership, Georgia will continue to identify new opportunities in the global economy.”

The official Georgia report on 2023′s export levels showed the state had $49.7 billion in 2023, a 5.1% increase from 2022.

Additionally, the report broke down the top five products by billion-dollar value to Georgia for export to the state’s international trading partners.

1. Civilian Aircraft: $8.2 billion
2. Motor Vehicles: $3.1 billion
3. Turbojets, Turbopropellers and Gas Turbines: $2.3 billion
4. Poultry: $1.5 billion
5. Chemical Woodpulp: $1.3 billion

Since 2014, Georgia officials said export values have increased 24%.

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